Learning to Love
by thatcoolguy17
Summary: High School AU: When genius teenage Natsu has to help bad girl Erza with painting a mural for a school event, he has to set aside his differences with her to even help her. But what happens when they have more in common than they know of? Will it lead to an unexpected fríendship or even more? Or will it distance their relationship even further than before? Edo!NatZa.
1. Chapter 1: Neck-to-Neck

**Author's Note: New NatZa story! I know I said that I'll probably finish my other NatZa story before starting a new one but this prompt has been in my head for quite some time already.**

 **If you guys didn't know, I'm also on vacation, so my other stories will have infrequent updates 'til I get home.**

 **This story might be a cliché but I'm a sucker for cliché stories. A few characters might be OOC but that'd because it's an AU story. This time, I'm gonna be using the Edolas counterpart personalities, so yes, this is my first Edo!NatZa** **story.**

 **Well that's about it, so enjoy!**

* * *

"Oi, Natsu!" Behind the door, an elder man pounded loudly on it. "Wake up!"

For about five minutes, the man's loud banging and the boy's alarm clock had been going at it in symphony in hopes of waking up the young teenager underneath his bed sheets, continuing to snore away every loud thing.

"You're gonna be late for school!" The man exclaimed as he continued on with his obnoxious knocking. Exhausted, the man had enough and entered his room using the old card trick in between the door and the wall.

As he entered the room, he turned off the alarm. Taking a step backwards, he saw his son sleeping soundly underneath his covers.

"Natsu, wake up son." The man now sat on the edge of his son's bed, now trying a different approach.

"…mhmmm… five more minutes…." He stretched his arms out from underneath his covers and turned away from his father.

"Oh for goodness sakes…" The elder man sighed. He got up from his seat and like he would usually do to wake his son up was completely drag him out of the bed. "WAKE UP BOY!"

"I'M UP! I'M UP!" In a disarray, the pinkette was finally out of his covers and got himself up from the floor he was dragged off onto. This was Natsu Dragion, a senior at Edolas High and the smartest kid in it. Added perks are being a huge geek as well as being a great artist

Natsu picked himself and the covers off the floor and threw them back on the bed. "Geez dad, do you always got to do that when I'm completely knocked out?" He asked his dad as he massaged the back of his neck and heading straight towards his closet.

"Who else would do it besides me?" He gave his son a goofy scorn while having his arms across his chest. "Anyways, breakfast is ready." And like that he was out of his room.

"Tch." Natsu couldn't help but to bring a smile upon his face. His father was a single parent after all, he tried his best to keep up with him. His father was a priest, and he tried not to disappoint.

He finally found some good clothes to wear. A white tank-top underneath a maroon colored buttoned up shirt, his jeans were black and his black and white Vans. He quickly changed from his sleep attire to that of his casual attire.

From there, he went to the bathroom and fixed his nappy bed hair. Throw some water, comb it up and add a bit of hair gel and his hair was now his regular spiky hair. He quickly brushed his teeth and soon, from the bathroom, made his way downstairs to the kitchen.

The scent of blueberry hit his nose upon hitting the last step on the stairs. He turned to the right and saw his father read the daily newspaper while having his morning cup of coffee. "Blueberry Pancakes?" He asked.

"Yup, eat up now." The man answered as he flipped through the pages, now entering the sports section.

Natsu took a seat next to him and begun to dig into his food. He poured syrup on his pancakes and with his fork, cut it into pieces, taking and chewing his pancakes little by little. By his side, a cup of milk was there for him, he sipped on it while still munching on his pancakes.

"I'm going to be home late." His father told him as he took his empty cup and placed it on the sink.

"Again?" Natsu said with a mouthful.

"Yeah," the man turned to look at his son. Half his plate was already gone. "Today there's gonna be an event at the church."

"Hmm, got you." He swallowed the remaining food down.

"Don't forget your keys," the elder man placed his son's spare keys on the counter. "You might be the smartest boy I've ever know but God forbid that you can be forgetful sometimes."

"Hehe, sorry," Natsu drank the remaining milk from his glass cup. He got up and took his dirty dishes to the sink. "Thanks for finding them."

"No problem son," the man now walked towards the coat racket where he got and placed his vest on. "Taking a cab to the church, you can take the car if you will to school."

"Alright, thanks dad, good luck." And with a simple goodbye, his father walked out of house, leaving the teenage pinkette alone.

After being all done with his breakfast, Natsu got his book bag ready. Having it held on one side of his shoulder, he got he keys that his father left on the counter and parted ways from his house.

He walked towards his father's car that was in the garage. Opening the garage door let the morning rays of light hit the car, showing the beauty of the car: a high powered Ford Mustang from the 70's. His father's greatest possession. Even a priest can admire a car like that.

Natsu made his way to the front of the car. He threw his bag on the passenger side and sat behind the wheel. He closed the door, adjusted the all the mirrors to suit him and turned the engine on. And like that, the pinkette made his way to school.

…

"Hey Fireball." Natsu's childhood friend, Gray Surge, greeted the pinkette by his nickname. Like usually, the man always had layers of layers of clothing over him, even on the hottest days. Gray sat right next to him in the lunchroom.

"Hey bro." Natsu greeted, sliding a bit to his left as he let Gray sit next to him. It was almost impossible for Gray to sit properly even with the layers of clothing.

"Don't worry about me, not really struggling or anything in trying to sit down…" Stating the obvious, Gray had trouble, like always, in siting down properly.

"You know, if you had taken my advice and just wore a pair of clothing, you won't be having this problem, ya know?" Natsu rolled his eyes. Countless times has he told his friend to only wear a pair of clothing. It was like the information went inside one ear and out the other with him. Still, being friends, Natsu still helped him out.

"Whatever," Gray finally sat down properly, at the cost of holding his breath in every now and then to fit. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Natsu turned his attention back to his book.

Just as it was just him and Gray sitting together in peace and quiet, it was all done when another of his childhood friends went up to his desk and sat next to him. "What's up, scrubs?" Lucy Ashley, a teenage blonde. A tomboy at times and likes to mess around with both Gray and Natsu.

"Hey Lucy." The two greeted at the exact same time.

She and her brunette girlfriend took the seats right in front of the two. "Hey guys." The brunette greeted the two.

"Oh, hey Cana." Natsu didn't notice her until her greet.

"Hi Cana." Gray greeted her.

"What are you guys up to?" Lucy asked while she made her hair into a ponytail.

"Nothing much, I just sat down and Natsu is reading some incomprehensible story." Gray told her.

"Pretty much." Natsu confirmed as he flipped to the next page of his book.

Struggling to make her ponytail, Cana helped her. "Thanks babe." Lucy thanked her, kissing the brunette on the cheek.

"No problem, next time, you should really untangle your hair, it's a mess." Cana advised her.

Just as the peace and quiet was dying, another one of their friends came to the table. "Hey guys." A man with long green hair and casual clothing greeted. He also wore a brown beanie.

"Hey Freed." All four greeted in harmony.

Freed was not the brightest needle in the haystack, however, he is the _chillest_ in the group. "You guys wanna smoke some weed?" He was the pothead in the group.

"No thanks." Gray declined.

"Gonna have to pass." Lucy as well.

"As stressed as I am as well, gonna have to give you a pass too." Cana let him down as well.

"What about you, Natsu?" Freed gave his undivided attention to the pinkette.

"Hmm, I'm sorry, what? I wasn't listening." Natsu rolled his attention to his beanie wearing friend.

"You want to smoke some weed?" Freed repeated his question once more for the pinkette.

"Yeah, no, dad would kill me." He declined as well.

"Alright, won't pressure the topic anymore." Freed now sat down next to Cana.

Just as the peace and quiet was coming back, the first bell to first period rang. The ever so filled lunchroom started to become empty with every second as each teenager, from freshman to seniors all exited out of the room.

"I'll see you guys later." Natsu was the first to get up from his seat and leave.

"See you man." The rest followed his steps and made their way out.

His first class was Biology, but before he can go to his class which was on the third floor, he had to go to his locker which was on the second floor.

Making his way throughout the school, his locker was found at the end of the hall. Putting in his combination on his lock, he unlocked and quickly skirmishes through his rubble and found what he was looking for: Biology 101 Textbook.

Just as he was about to lock his locker and leave, an unexpected person whose locker is next to his was here: Erza Knightwalker. The most badass chick in Edolas High. Her hair was her best feature, a darkened red like the finest wine. She wore a leather jacket that matched her pants and boots. She was infamous for her antiques with her crew.

"Oh, you still come to school?" Natsu jokingly said to her.

"Ahaha, very funny Dragion," Erza scoffed at his joke. She closed her locker and turned to look at the pinkette. She and him were the exact opposites when it came to personality. "Another joke like that and maybe I'll introduce you the floor."

"Another threat like that and maybe I might introduce you to my book." It was always neck to neck between the two.

"Tch, whatever, I got important things to do." Erza soon left his vicinity.

"Phew… that was close…" Natsu never really had the heart to do, even have the guts to wholeheartedly tell her that. A woman like that, he was surprised he was still breathing. He looked at his wristwatch and saw that he only had a few minutes left before the tardy bell rang, so he hauled ass.

…

"Strauss!"

"Here."

It was now 4th period, Natsu was now in his Art class. The teacher had begun taking attendance. While doing so, Natsu began drawing. He would usually draw in his black small book, whether it'd be an animal like a tiger or a small comic strip. It didn't matter but when he started to draw, he didn't stop.

"Dragion." The teacher called out his name.

He wasn't paying attention as his whole attention was diverted to his newest drawing.

"Dragion!" The teacher raised his tone a bit higher, but still, no bulge from the pinkette.

Lucy, who was conveniently sitting right behind him, kicked his chair. With that, he jumped a bit. "Huh? Oh, uh here sir."

"Hmm, keep your head here Dragion." The teacher advised him.

"Uh, yeah, sorry," Natsu wryly chuckled to himself. He turned his attention to his friend, moving his whole body to the opposite side of the chair. "Did you really have to kick my chair?" He whispered.

"I'm sorry, what?" Lucy smirked, doing an impression of him, wholeheartedly mocking the pinkette.

"Haha, very funny." He turned away from her and began to draw in his book once more.

His attention however was turned to the classroom's door when it unexpectedly was open. Again, Erza appeared with a tardy note. "You're late as always Ms. Knightwalker." The teacher took her note.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She took the first seat she saw.

"The nerve of that woman, huh?" Lucy whispered to Natsu.

"I try not to bother with nuisance." Natsu rolled his eyes. Erza was always late to class and always made an impression when she came by. It somehow bothered Natsu but not enough to make a fuss about it.

"Ms. Knightwalker, come to my desk please." The teacher had put up the assignment on the chalkboard. He went to his desk, followed by Erza who seemingly sighed and dragged her foot along the floor.

Natsu stared from the corner of his eye. No matter, if it didn't involve him in some way, he didn't show any interest.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Lucy tried to gossip.

"Don't know, don't care." Natsu now tried to do the assignment at hand.

"Ms. Knightwalker," the teacher took a seat behind his desk. While there was a seat, Erza didn't bother to sit as she had hoped this was going to be quick. "You're failing my class."

"Whoop de doo, you're like the 4th teacher that has told me that." Erza lifted her arms above her head, mocking a cheer.

"I'm serious," the teacher took off his glasses, showing some seriousness in his next line. "This is art, the easiest subject in High School, and you're literally the only person failing it, it has me quite concerned."

"Since you're so worried, help me out then," Erza sighed as she leaned in closer on his desk. "Give extra papers, assignments, I don't care."

The teacher sat in silence for a bit, thinking of what to do to increase her grade. He looked at his students, particularly a pinkette and back at her. "Alright, the school is about to have an event a week from today and they need mural on the empty, spotless walk that is outside near the central doors."

"Cool then, I guess I get too draw stick figures on it." Era said jokingly.

"Haha, no, that'd be ludicrous," the teacher now sat up straight. "Mr. Dragion!"

"Hmm?" Natsu turned to look at the desk where the teacher sat. He could've sworn he heard him say his name in the presence of Erza.

"Mr. Dragion!" He called out to him once more.

"Is he seriously calling me?" He lowly said to himself and Lucy.

"Yeah, better go check on what he wants." Lucy said. Instead of doing the assignment, she was just busy playing around with her writing utensils.

"Okay I guess…" Not letting him wait any longer, Natsu got up from his chair and went straight to his desk. "Eh, what's up?"

"You're gonna help Erza here paint the mural of our mascot on the central wall of the school." He told the two.

"What!?" The two said loudly in unison. They couldn't believe that he had just paired the two up.

"What?" He had no idea what the fuss was about between the two.

"You can't pair me up with him!" Erza told him.

"I second that." Natsu wholeheartedly agreed with her on that.

"And why is that?" He placed his arms across his chest, hearing their explanation.

"Because we hate each other!" The two said in unison.

"You guys sound like a married couple," from the expression he gave them, he was highly amused of this. "My decision is final."

"You can't be serious!?" The two continued to speak in unison.

"Unless you want to see your failing grade go up, you 2 are stuck together," he advised them. "Now, go to your desks, you have some work to do."

With sighs and groans, the two walked away from his desk. One pouting over it while the other angered over it.

"Hey, you okay?" Lucy asked as the pinkette sat right back in front of her.

"No, I just got appointed to help Erza, of all people…" He placed his head over his books, continuing to pout over this.

"Bummer."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Well here's the first chapter to this! Hope you enjoyed this. If this story becomes a hit, I might do more Edo! NatZa or more pairings like that in the future. Also, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Years!**

 **I'm also doing this cause I may have watched the movie A Walk To Remember, so the whole bad girl, good boy is basely loose on it.**

 **Well, see you guys later!**


	2. Chapter 2: Pick one!

After a long and exhausted day at school, Natsu had finally returned home. He locked the door behind him before walking upstairs to his room.

Just slamming his door in, Natsu threw his book-bag to the floor on a pile of clothes he had left early in the morning and threw himself onto his bed. "Aww, my bed…" A tranquil sigh escaped his mouth.

Just as he was enjoying the peace and quiet, his phone started to ring and vibrate in his pocket. Reluctant to pick his phone up, he let it ring.

Again, his phone rang and vibrated once again. He threw his white flag of surrender and reached into his pocket. Not bothering to look at the contact info, he answered in annoyance. "WHAT!?"

"Whoa, kiddo it's just me." It was his father calling him.

"Oh, sorry dad," he sighed, apologizing for his rude behavior as he answered. "Just had a long day at school, what's up?"

"Just checking in on you," he told his son. "Anyways, just called to inform you that I might not make it home 'til midnight."

"Oh, that's fine." It wasn't a surprise for his father to call him for that. He had always spent most of the time alone in the house.

"There's still some leftover rice and chicken from yesterday, you should be able to just heat it up in the microwave." The man advised his son.

"I know that dad," Natsu told him. "Anything else?"

"Love you kiddo." He heartwarmingly told him through the phone.

"Love you too." Natsu replied back with his own heartwarming comment.

"See you later."

"See you later pops." And like that, Natsu ended the conversation with a single beep.

Natsu now threw his phone to the side, hoping he can just lay down on the bed and take a little nap, after all, he was still exhausted after the long day he had.

He still couldn't believe that his art teacher, Mr. Trent, had paired him up with Erza Knightwalker to help her paint a mural of the mascot on the central wall of the school. Just the mere thought of him working with Erza was a brain cluster.

Of all people, it had to be the one person who is never there in school, to help him. It was a slap to the face.

He could already picture how it was going to go down: she would be there however, he would practically be the only one trying to paint the mural while she ran off to do something else herself. It appalled him to say the least about the scenario.

"Dammit…" He sighed, rolling to his side and now his sights were out of his window. "Alright Natsu!" He got himself up, pumping himself. "You can do this! Once you see Erza there tomorrow, stand your ground! Don't let her out of your sight and God forbid she actually helps you with the mural!"

He gave himself confidence for the days to come. The mascot was a dragon and it was gonna take him quite awhile with her to get it done.

"Alright, that made me feel a bit better…" Natsu gave out a small ball of air. He looked at his book-bag and remembered he had homework to do. "Ah well, better get started on it."

…

The next day came by quickly and Natsu was skirmishing through both his bag and locker. He was leaving a few unnecessary books while taking a few for the rest of the day.

Just as he was finishing up tidying up, the locker right next him was opened. He knew that had to be Erza.

He closed his locker and saw the scarlet haired baddie rummaging through her locker. "Hey." He greeted her, in hopes of small talk.

"… nope… not this… maybe this?" Erza didn't hear his greet, only thinking of what she was trying to get.

Natsu stared intently at her direction, hearing her mumble as she looked through her locker.

"… nope… nope… ah!" From where Natsu stood, it sounded like she found what she was looking for in her skirmish. Just as she closed her locker, the mere sight of Natsu had given her a small gasp of surprises. "Holy shit!"

"Hey, nice to see you too." Natsu reluctantly greeted her.

"What do you want Dragion?" Erza asked. Besides being locker buddies and all, the pinkette had a stern look in him, ready to bombard her with something on his mind.

"Did you already forget what we have to do?" Natsu had crossed his arms.

"?" Erza only raised an eyebrow at his question. Her stature suddenly changed when she remembered. "Oh, yeah, I remember now."

"And that is…?" He had hoped the scarlet haired delinquent finished his sentence.

"The school mural, what? I'm not that much of an idiot," she rolled her eyes. Like everyone else, he was looking down on her. "What about it?"

"Just making sure you didn't forget," Natsu was just about to leave the proximity of his locker until he remembered what he had told himself. "And do not take off somewhere else while we're doing that, God forbid I have enough on my plate as it is."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Dragion." She took his words in. Not with much appreciation but at least she listened. And like that the two went their separate ways.

…

"This woman is gonna be the death of me…" Natsu groaned to his friends as they all say together in lunch. It was 5th period and their scheduled lunch had just begun.

"Stop whining," Lucy had told him. On her plastic platter, she had your spicy chicken sandwich, tater tots, a small piece of lemon cake and your regular chocolate milk. "She might not be as bad as the next person, plus, you haven't even started working with her yet."

"She was here this morning but considering she didn't attend art class today or advanced trigonometry, I'm gonna be under the assumption that she ditched school…" Natsu continued to complain. "That means I'm gonna have to do this all by myself…"

"Cheer up Natsu, I'm sure she'll come around." Gray patted Natsu right on his right shoulder, in hopes of cheering him up.

"Probably when pigs fly…" The pinkette placed his head over his arms, laying on top of them while feeling completely despaired over his predicament.

"Maybe you should try tapping that then," Lucy raised her eyebrows at Natsu, telling him to hook up with her. "I hear that's the best way to have your partner stick around, plus, she's got a nice ass."

"I can't believe you just suggested that," he gave the blonde a poker face. Of all things he wanted to hear, that was not one of them. "Never in a million years, plus, I told myself I would never fall in love again, not after what happened last time."

"You mean Lisanna? You dumped her after she cheated on you," Gray told him, reminding himself of the name. It was an ex from a long time ago though, they ended still being friends in the end. "And that was like centuries ago."

"And? That worked out for the best of us," Natsu sighed as he was reminded of his long ex from elementary school. "We went out separate ways and that was it."

"Whatever man."

The school bell rang and the change to different classes commenced once again. "See you guys later, I guess." Natsu groaned as he said goodbye to his friends as they trio went their separate ways.

The pinkette had gone back to his locker, forgetting something from earlier today.

Skirmishing through his other books and stuff, like earlier before, he heard the locker to his right open.

After getting what he needed, which was his Chemistry book, Natsu had turned to look at Erza. "Hey, where have you been?" He said in annoyance.

"What are you, my mother?" Erza had peeked her head out of her locker only to glance at Natsu for a small second.

"I'm only asking considering that you haven't been attending your classes," Natsu changed his demeanor, now having his arms crossed over his chest. "Are you gonna ditch me when it's time to do the mural?"

"I'll be there!" She slammed her locker door, turning her full attention to the pinkette. "Geez, get off my will ya?"

"I wouldn't be acting like this if maybe you would show some commitment to coming to your class." Natsu rolled his eyes.

"I can choose whatever class I want to go, Dragion." She exclaimed at him.

"Whatever," Natsu now started to leave the vicinity of his locker and her. Before completely leaving, he turned around once more to look at Erza. "Meet me at the computer lab today, we still need a template on what to draw."

"Tch, fine." And like that, Knightwalker and Dragion made their separate ways until they met.

…

The last bell of school had rang and now everyone besides the after school kids, had gone out of the school and had gone back home.

Natsu was waiting inside, in front of the computer lab. He was looking at the time on his phone while looking both ways of the school hall on the 4th floor, anxiously waiting for a certain red head to meet him there.

Five minutes have passed and still, no sign of Knightwalker anywhere. "This woman…" He mumbled to himself. Getting more anxious every second of her tardiness, Natsu began combing his hand through his spiky hair.

Groaning and gritting his teeth, he sat down by the wall, crossing his legs as he continued to wait.

After no more than 15 minutes of waiting, the Scarlet haired woman had finally been sighted at the end of the hall. She wasn't alone.

She was with her crew. Most, if not all, were really students not worth mentioning. If everything was based on standards, they'd be low on the bar. There was one in particular of her crew that stood out, and that was Mystogan. He was the principal's son and he wasn't the brightest apple in the bunch.

"See you Erza." They told her as she departed away from them.

"See you." She waved goodbye at them.

"Took your sweet time, huh?" Natsu had mocked her for her tardiness.

"Shut up," Erza now stood in front of the computer lab, waiting for the pinkette to get up. "I'm here aren't I?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Natsu got himself up, dusting off the dirt behind his pants.

The two entered the computer lab. Hardly anyone besides a few other students and teachers were here. They took their seats at the nearest window, sharing a computer.

"So, what exactly are we here for?" Erza asked. Though she didn't question it earlier, she did want to find out the reasoning to coming to the computer class instead of the wall they had to paint.

"Well, if you didn't pay attention to what I said earlier, you'd know that we still need a template or something to help us with the mural." Natsu logged into the computer with your standard student login.

"Hmm, I guess." Erza laid back, letting Natsu do most of the work on the computer.

"Any suggestions?" He asked her, hoping that'll make her useful in the meantime.

"Well the mural is for the football event that's gonna happen in 2 weeks, no?" She asked him.

"Yeah, their gonna have their big game and what not." Natsu had double clicked on the Royal Chrome Browser.

"So shouldn't we draw like the school mascot or something like that?" She suggested.

It wasn't a bad idea actually. Natsu now searched Dragons. It was the school mascot after all. "Hmm, alright, let's look at some pictures and I guess pick one of the best looking ones?"

"Sounds like progress."

After a couple of minutes or so, Natsu had already scrolled through so many pages of pictures of dragons. "How about this one?" It was like the 100th time he asked that very same question.

"Too skinny, plus the head is too big." Erza criticized the drawing.

"Will you pick one picture at the very least?" He turned to look at the scarlet haired woman. She had criticized every goddamn picture he had showed her.

"Why would I pick one if they all suck?" She answered his question with a question of her own.

"For God sakes woman, you're making this very hard." Natsu slightly raised his voice at her. With all his fuzz, many of the other students looked back at them.

"All the drawings suck ass, what's not to get about that?" She sounds around in her chair, taking little consideration of what the pinkette is trying to tell her.

"What do you know about drawing? You always skip Mr. Trent's class," for having criticized all those drawings, Erza clearly was in no position to be all uppity on the pictures. "It's not like you can draw any better?" Natsu had his arms crossed now.

"Wanna bet?" She stopped spinning her chair when she heard him challenge her.

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her last sentence. "You? Draw?" The thought of her actually doing something besides not doing anything made him internally laugh.

"Yeah, let me borrow your book." Just as she was about to reach in for his black book on the table, Natsu slammed his hand on to it.

"Not on this book." Natsu exclaimed.

"Oh come on, it's just one measly paper," both her hands and his hands were fighting over the book. "Just give me one."

"Let go woman." And like that, the book slipped right through both of their hands, dropping to the floor and scattering a flew loose leaf paper. "Thanks a lot."

"Tch, I only needed one paper." She groaned, reluctant to help him. As she picked up a few blank ones, one of them intrigued her. A beautiful drawing of a bunch of roses. They had no color besides it's black and white tints. A name was read on the middle however. **Zayla Dragion,** it read.

"That's one of the reasons why I didn't want you to take my book…" Natsu grumbled as Erza gave him his pages back.

"Is that the name of your mother?" She asked.

"Yeah, she died some time ago…" The pinkette tidied up the pages.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that." Erza gulped down some saliva, feeling a bit guilty of her actions.

"Here," Natsu had given her a piece of paper. "Now show me your idea of a good drawing of a dragon."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Still on vacation but I'm trying to update every now and then. Internet here is pretty wompy haha.**

 **Hope you liked this chapter. The Dark Rose should be updated in a couple of days as well, so watch out. I also want to thank you guys for the great feedback, you guys are awesome.**

 **See you next time.**


	3. Chapter 3: Potential

As soon as Natsu handed Erza the paper, he observed her from his chair, staring at how graciously her hands moved slowly, it was mesmerizing to say the least. "Wow, look at that, you can draw." He said mocking tone.

"Shut it Dragion…" Erza exclaimed right back at him, concentrating on making the dragon's wings look ferocious.

"…" He sat there quietly, with only a smirk across his face. It was an awe thing to say the least bout what was happening right in front of him; the slacker of all time actually doing something for once.

"Can you wipe that smirk off your face? I will punch it, I will." She threatened without looking at him.

"It's just, funny, that's all." His smirk grew bigger, holding back a chuckle.

"You know what else is funny? My fist in your face." Once again, she threatened the pinkette.

"Trust me, your fist isn't the only fist I've had in my face…" Natsu rolled his eyes, remembering all those times as a kid of the constant bullying he's had. His life was made much more easier when he became friends with Lucy, which to say the least, protects him like a younger brother.

"Oh?" She stopped for a second, turning to look at Natsu who simply watched her from his seat. "You've been beaten up before?" By the sound of her voice, it almost surprised her.

"Yeah, back in elementary school," Natsu sighed. His elementary school years were never his fondest, and the bullying made that much clearer. "Can you hurry up? I want to see your drawing."

Erza stared at him for a couple of seconds before her eyes were back at her paper.

After several more minutes of drawing and silence, Erza was done with her drawing, adding the final touches to the dragon. "….and here you go!" She handed the paper to Natsu.

Natsu took his time, inspecting the marvelous piece of art in his hands. "Wow, this is awesome! This is almost identical to the ones I make in my small comics."

"You make your own comics?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well… yeah, but they're nothing special." He answered.

She awaited for his appraisal.

"Like I said earlier, this dragon is pretty amazing, but…" Natsu had stopped mid-sentence.

"But what?" An annoyed look was made on Erza's face. Hearing the word _but_ after a compliment was truly something she never liked.

"I think the dragon has to be longer," he told her. "Don't get me wrong, this dragon, again, is amazing, it's just, I feel the need that it's not quite long enough for the central wall of the school."

"So, you want to go more for a Chinese Dragon then?" She suggested to him.

"Yeah, it'd be the perfect fit for the wall." He answered her. He took out more white blank papers and another spare pencil.

"No arguments from me, I just want to get this done." Erza groaned, receiving blank pages from Natsu.

"The sooner we finish, the sooner we'll no longer be partners," he gave her some encouraging words. "Got it?"

"I'm not a child." She exclaimed at him.

"You certainly have the mentality of one though." He retorted back at her.

…

After 35 minutes of just making Chinese Dragons on their blank papers, Natsu and Erza placed each and every one of them side by side, comparing them.

"How about this one?" Erza took one of the ones she drew. This one was that if one embalming it's long scaled body to a mountain, roaring into the heavens.

"Not bad," Natsu now took one of his own drawings. "How about this one?" His Chinese Dragon flew around some clouds, soaring high in the sky and flying with flocks of ducks.

"Not Badass enough like mine." She chuckled.

"Haha, very funny."

The two continued to look at their drawings until their hands touched as they attempted to take one that peaked both of their interests. Natsu slightly blushed at the small interaction, as did Erza but simply brushed away the man's hand to grab the picture.

She cleared her throat before talking. "I'm guessing this one we can agree on." This one was of the Chinese Dragon, almost similar to that of the duck one but the dragon itself soaring into the heavens, having mighty warriors on it's back. This one was done by Natsu.

"Yeah I guess," he scratched the back of his head. "We can change the warriors to that of the football team."

"No arguments from me," she simply didn't care of suggestions so long as she completed the task. "What are we gonna reference their faces with though?"

"Well my friend Lucy's girlfriend, Cana, she's apart of the School's picture book, I'm sure she can help out with that." Natsu suggested.

"Whatever, so long as I have a reference, I'm good." Erza didn't care.

"Well I think this is enough for today I guess," Natsu started to pick his pile of drawings, placing them in his journal and into his book bag. "It's almost going to be 5:30."

"Yeah I guess," Erza did the same. "Longest I've ever been in school."

He heard her mumble. "You know, after just spending the day with you, I feel like you don't put yourself up to high standards." He remarked.

"What do you mean?" She stopped what she was doing, trying to understand where the man is getting at.

"I mean," Natsu stopped for a second as well, taking a few seconds to iterate himself. "From what I've heard, you're failing art, yet look at you're drawings! They're amazing." He complimented.

"So just because my art is amazing, I shouldn't be failing that class?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Not just that, it's just, you don't put 100 percent, you only put 20 percent into it," Natsu continued. "You have potential other than just being whatever the heck you're doing."

"…" Erza took his words into consideration. Does she truly have the potential that he says she has? "You know what? You talk too much Dragion." She simply shrugged off his friendly observation of her.

"That's another thing, you deflect and you do that a lot," Natsu continued with his assessment of her. "Why do you brush off things like that? Are you afraid of something Knightwalker?"

"You know, you keep talking like that and I will make sure your face meets the floor." She threatened him.

Natsu stopped himself for a second. He knew right there and then he was stepping on some thin ice over a lake. "Whatever, I'm going home now, see you tomorrow I guess." And with that, the pinkette had exited out the library.

"Tch, the nerve of that kid."

…

On her trademark motorbike, Erza had gone back home.

Going through some of the roughest neighborhoods in Edolas, she found her run down home; a red roofed home with a boarded up broken window and a mailbox barely standing.

It was small. The front gate was gone only leaving the metal fence, her front porch, having old and small wood stick out. She took out her keys and entered her home, breathing in a rose like aroma, nothing you would've expected from a home like that.

On the outside, it may not look like appealing but the inside spoke in a different manner, everything was neat and organized.

She went through the living room, seeing the TV on but volume so low it was almost inaudible. She had gone through the kitchen, though a few messy dishes, it was nothing she couldn't clean. "Mother, I'm home." Erza threw her book bag onto one of the kitchen chairs.

A dark wined colored hair woman came out of a room, next to the kitchen. Strikingly familiar to Erza, the woman came out of her own room, in a wheelchair. "How was your day at school, darling?" She asked.

"It was alright, got paired up with a nerd," Erza looked over at some mail over at counter next to the sink. "We're supposed to paint a mural of some kind in the central wall of be school."

"Ah, that explains why you came home late." The older woman scooted her wheelchair to the table, getting some fruit from the basket.

"Yeah," Erza kept looking through the mail until one with her mother's name was on it. _Eileen Knightwalker_ , it read. She opened it and saw that it was another doctor's appointment. "You have another appointment at the Doctor's this Friday."

"Again? This is the third one this month." Eileen rolled her eyes at the news.

"It's probably another check up for your surgery next week," Erza placed the mail back on the counter, now getting a glass of water for herself and her mother. "You know, the one that'll help you get back walking."

"I know, darling, I know." Though she was stuck in a wheelchair, Eileen and Erza had been meeting a doctor who is supposed to be able to get her back walking after her car accident.

"Here." She gave her mother her glass.

"Thank you dear," Eileen took a small sip. "How about you? Have you looked into colleges yet?"

"Mother, you know I can't d that, not while you're still in that chair." Erza remarked.

"I'm certainly sure you can." Eileen retorted.

"I can't go to college and leave you like that, I can barely go to high school without you falling down the stairs in that chair." Erza argued back.

"It was a one time thing darling." Eileen retorted once more.

"Besides, even if I wanted to, my grades aren't all that great." Erza grunted.

"You told me since last month that you've been trying to get them back up," Eileen couldn't believe her daughter at the moment. "Have you been lying to me?"

"Mother, this is hard on me just as much as is hard for you," Erza explained. "You think I like living this way? I don't but you're my mother, I can't simply think on my own without thinking of you."

"Erza-"

"I'll be right back!" Erza now stormed out of the kitchen and back into the living room. "I need a few minutes to cool off!" She slammed the door right behind her.

"Huh, that girl is something…"

…

Leaving home, Erza found herself walking around in her neighborhood as the sun set behind the horizon.

Just simply walking around her block, she found herself at the corner of her street where the liquor store was. Inside she saw Mystogan.

She went inside. "Hey." She greeted him.

"Hey," The blue haired man strolled through the back where all the cold stuff were. "You had another argument with your mom?"

"You guessed it," she sighed. "I hate fighting with her."

"You always say that you know?" Mystogan told her. He opened the refrigerator door, now getting what he wanted: milk.

"Since when were you the milk man?" She joked.

"Since my father told me to come and get some groceries for him." He told her.

"Uh-huh." Erza played along with him.

"Anyways, at least you two are trying, my father and I simply just don't see eye to eye anymore." They went to the cash register, waiting behind a line of people.

"I love her but she expects high standards from me at a time where it shouldn't be expected, especially in her current position." Erza sighed. She knew the hardships and sacrifices she had to make in order to meet standards between herself and her mother.

"I mean, it's going to be harder, but still, that shouldn't stop you," the line moved up. "Besides, isn't she having her surgery like in another week or so?"

"Yeah, but still, it'll take a long time before she's able to completely walk." She remarked.

"Still, you should be planning something." Mystogan and Erza were now at the cash register.

"Cash or debit sir?" The cashier asked.

"Cash." Mystogan took out his wallet.

"Like what?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know," Mystogan awaited for his change. "I know you like to draw, maybe there some potential in that."

"Here you go sir." The cashier handed his change.

"Thanks." Mystogan grabbed his milk and continued their talk as they walked outside.

"Ugh, now you're starting to sound like Dragion…" Once again, she heard the same stigma from earlier today.

"Dragion? You mean the pink haired guy?" Mystogan raised an eyebrow at her sudden remark of the man.

"Yeah, he stroke the same nerve you're striking right now." Erza placed her arms around her chest.

"Well good," Mystogan stopped prompting Erza to do the same. "Not even a day and that man knows you have potential."

"Whatever, even if I wanted to do better now, I can't, my grades are ass." She pouted.

"Well maybe you can ask that Dragion guy to tutor you or something, I know he's pretty smart." He suggested.

"Did you really just say that?" Erza now had a Stern look on her face. "I can barely tolerate him, and you want me to get more help from him?"

"It's just a suggestion," Mystogan looked at the time on his phone. "Well, it was nice talking to you and all but I got to get home now, see you."

And like that, Mystogan had left Erza to think to herself.

As she walked home, she took into consideration everything she's heard today. "Huh…" Erza sighed.

Apart from having an education, she knew that her mother was right, some day, she will be able to make decisions on her own without thinking of her mother. Though because of her current predicament, Erza only had a small amount of time.

She entered her home. "Oh, you're home sweetie, how was your walk?"

"It made me think for once."

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'm sorry for dragging my feet with this update but holy crap, I finally did it.**

 **Unlike the first 2 chapters, this one is more Erza-centric. Hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Anyways, apologies for taking long. I hope you liked it. See you 'til the next update.**


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